Participants may see bloodroot blooming

UNC Asheville’s Biology Department will celebrate nearby nature with its 34th annual Spring Wildflower and Bird Pilgrimage May 5-7. Fifteen special events will focus on local flora and fauna. All are open to the public.

The popular annual celebration begins with “A Day in the Gardens” from 1-6 p.m. Friday, May 5, and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, May 6, in the Asheville Botanical Gardens. The two-day celebration will feature plant and craft vendors, food and entertainment.

Local naturalist and nature photographer Jay Kranyik will present a slideshow and lecture highlighting a range of plants from the Southern Appalachians at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 5, in UNC Asheville’s Rhodes-Robinson Hall room 125. Kranyik will discuss botanical nomenclature, the influences of specialized soils and habitats and plant adaptations.

Events on Saturday, May 6, include nine guided tours and activities. The outings feature an all-day mountain wildflowers excursion and half-day adventures such as a birding outing, a beginner’s wildflower identification trip, and a tree natural history tour.

The day will conclude with a multimedia presentation by well-known hiker and travel journalist Leonard Adkins. Adkins has walked over 17,000 miles exploring North America and Europe and has hiked the Appalachian Trail four times. Referred to as “The Habitual Hiker,” he has been profiled by Backpacker magazine and accepted into the Society of American Travel Writers. He is the author of 14 books and his most recent, “Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains,” was nominated for the Virginia Literary Award.

Activities on Sunday, May 7, include a birding trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway starting at 7:30 a.m., a trip to the Craggy Mountains to visit old growth sites at 9 a.m. and a wildflower walk in the Shinn gardens starting at 2 p.m.

Registration for all field trips begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 5, in the lobby of UNC Asheville's Rhodes-Robinson Hall. The registration fee is $4 for adults and $1 for students and covers all events.

For more information, call David Clarke, UNC Asheville associate professor of biology, at 828/232-5151 or click online at www.unca.edu/biology/wildflower.html.